Miami IDs are sometimes required for certain bars in Uptown Oxford, Ohio. The question is, are the requirement a good or a bad thing? There are positives and negatives to this new requirement.

Many other colleges' bars use school IDs. For example, the Ohio State University requires students to show their Buck IDs. The reasoning on why some bars require you to show your student ID, is for extra proof to verify that you're of age. Fake IDs are extremely common; with student IDs, they can verify birthdays.

One example includes how kids from Cincinnati drive up to Miami for the weekends and try to go to bars, but they also drive back that night. This requirement is helping to reduce the risk of drunk driving because if Cincinnati students don't have a second form of ID or a Miami ID, they won't be able to get into the bars, and therefore, it will reduce the amount of Miami students getting behind the wheel after one too many.

Bars around college campuses may also ask for your student ID to prove that you're a student; some bars only let college students in, from that specific college. Some bars on campus that do this include Brick, The Woods, and 45. This can be unfair because students might have friends visiting that don't have Miami IDs, which essentially prevents them from being able to get in. Bars should allow anyone in, as there are many people from different areas that shouldn't be restricted.

Miami students should care about this requirement because it affects their lives as much as it would affect people who don't attend Miami. Having this requirement will restrict Miami students from being able to bring their friends and family visiting from other areas.

I think that Miami should not stick with this requirement. Drinking underage is a common occurrence all over the country. There isn't an easy solution to it, and I don't think that requiring students to show their student IDs will help much to prevent it. Students can easily get drinks from other people, or go to bars that don't require student IDs. I think that bars should allow people that don't have student IDs because of the inconvenience for visitors, friends, and family. If you are of legal age, a bar shouldn't restrict you just because you don't attend that school. Bars make more money with more people, and it shouldn't be a matter of whether someone isn't from that area. If bars are concerned about verifying if a person is who they say they are, any secondary form of ID (such as a debit or credit card) could prove it as well.